Today continues a period of significant growth for our charity, as we officially open our services at two new premises, Keele in Town and the Guildhall in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Our charity will offer support around Consumer and Debt issues from Keele in Town, and our Generalist Team will provide support around issues such as Benefits, Housing, Immigration, and much more from the Guildhall.
This will allow further critical support to be delivered in our community, making the services offered by our charity even more accessible, from both the locations to availability of appointments. It also will be the first time in which a Citizens Advice service will be providing in-depth consumer advice face-to-face in the community.
Our charity will also be providing debt and money advice to clients from the Keele in Town premises to ensure whatever problems our community faces we are here to support them.
Our head of Money Advice, Katie Underwood, said “We are thrilled to be able to offer regular outreach from such a central location. We know that it can be difficult for our clients to get to us – especially if they’re facing financial difficulties or have caring responsibilities. Therefore, our focus, as it has been for the last 12 months, is to meet our clients where they are. We see this as a huge step towards achieving that goal and making our free advice more accessible than ever.”
The partnership between Keele University and ourselves has always offered a wealth of opportunity. We have provided front line work placements and experience to the students for many years and have gained volunteers, staff, and some fantastic work in return.
It’s exciting to watch the relationship continue to grow and open new doors for the both of us, to the benefit of the public. It captures the very essence of community and partnership working, something that we heavily rely on as a charity in order to continue to provide these essential services.
Our staff working at the Guildhall premises will be able to provide a variety of different advice to clients in the Newcastle area, this will range from advice around benefits, employment, housing options and disrepair, Immigration (up to level one), disputed debts, family, and relationship issues and legal options such as small claims & probate.
Head of Generalist services Sam Hubbard added “We’re really excited to be able to move into a more centralised location in Newcastle making it easier to access all our services, and to work closely in partnership with both the Guildhall and Keele in Town to support and develop new ways of working to benefit residents of Newcastle together.”
Our services at these two new locations are open now for you to visit and get support around any issues you may face. Whoever you are, whatever the problem.